November Earnings Update!

This month marks an exciting moment in my online passive income journey. I am only $7.50 away from reaching the $100 point! Here's the breakdown:

Suite 101: $33.53
eHow: $19.44
Amazon: $2.61
Adsense: $13.83
Affiliates: $23.10

Total= $92.51

It was by far the best month I've had yet at Suite 101. I'm not sure what caused the spike since I haven't even added any new articles in a while, but perhaps it was from article maturity. Whatever the reason, it gives me more motivation to write up more articles for them! My original goal was to reach 100 articles by the end of this year, but that goal has taken a backseat ever since I started with The Keyword Academy.

As you can see, my adsense earnings were at an all-time high as well. Most of that was earned through the first niche site I established back in September. My second niche site is almost complete, and it has even started earning a tiny amount as well. I have high hopes for my niche sites, but the struggle has been finding time and motivation to work on them. I need to implement a schedule of sorts to help me stay on track!

My eHow earnings continue to remain steady. I'm pleased at how well my few articles over there have been doing since the end of the writer compensation program.

Amazon is ticking along, although I don't really do any marketing for it. My other affiliates are earning nicely though, enough to make a nice contribution to my passive income each month.

My December goals are to finish up my second niche site and begin building strong backlinks for it as well as the first site. I also need to start researching keywords for a third and forth possible niche site, which I will begin by the new year.

Due to the lack of easy-titles (topics in my area of expertise) at DS right now, I really need to concentrate on building up my own sites and writing for them instead. DS is nice when the titles are plentiful in your preferred topics, but it can be a real drag when you start from scratch each time. I'm hoping by the end of next year I will be able to write entirely for my own sites and not have to rely on DS for filler work!

Next week I will be sharing a summary of my 2010 online writing accomplishments- what I learned, what I wish I had done differently and so forth. Be sure to check back!

How did you in November? Did you meet your goals? Do you have any goals you want to meet before the New Year?

October Earnings Update

Sorry I have been MIA lately, and this earnings update is a bit late! I have been focusing on my family and balancing writing life with mommy life. All the good stuff!

Here are the stats for those who have been itching with anticipation to see how I did last month:

Suite 101: $19.13
eHow: $19.57
Amazon: $0.00
Adsense: $3.82
Affiliates: $23.11

Total= $65.63

My Suite101 and eHow earnings seem to be holding steady. My affiliate earnings are also nicely improving. The biggest difference this month are my adsense earnings - which are purely from that single niche site I began last month. This is with limited back-linking and only a few articles. By the end of October, I was able to build up some good back links, and I am now reaping the rewards of them, although I still have some work to do. I was able to get my 2nd niche site up and running, and I am working on building the backlinks to that site this month.

By December, I hope to establish a 3rd niche site while building on the previous 2. I went ahead and renewed my Keyword Academy subscription after seeing the amazing income potential from just these 2 sites. For anyone interested in earning online income from niche sites, I highly recommend The Keyword Academy.

How did you do the month of October? Did you meet or exceed your goals?

September Earnings Update

September was a great month for me in residual income. Although Suite 101 and eHow remained about the same, my adsense and affiliate earnings were at an all time high! Here are the stats:

Suite 101- $18.42
eHow- $21.76
Amazon- $2.61
Adsense- $11.48
Affiliates- $25.00

Total= $79.27

I was able to write quite a bit this month, even returning to Demand Studios for a bit of upfront pay. The new eHow Home and Garden section currently has quite a few easy (for me) titles to choose from, so I have been churning out articles there every few days or so. I wrote 2 articles for Suite 101, making my total there 66 articles. I also added 2 more Hubs to Hubpages. After learning the interface, I am finding Hubpages to be a really fun place to write with decent residual income potential.

I made decent headway on my Keyword Academy sites. I've almost completed the content for the first niche site, and will be spending the month of October working on building links as well as setting up the second one.

By the end of October, I hope to have added more hubs and Suite 101 articles in addition to working on my own sites. I'll also be writing plenty of upfront DS articles in anticipation of the holidays to help us fund our gift and travel fund.

How did you do in the month of September? Did you meet your goals? What are your goals for October?

August Earnings Update

Is it September already?! Although I am very excited for fall and cooler weather (the heat this year has been excessive and draining), I can't believe how fast summer went by. I suppose having a new baby can help make things seem like a blur!


Here are the stats for August:

Suite 101: $18.96
eHow: $20.26
Adsense: $6.32
Amazon: $0.00


Total= $45.54


I added 4 new articles to Suite 101 in August and managed to write 2 DS articles all while dealing with a colicky baby who refused to take naps. So considering the limited amount of time I was able to put in, I am pleased with that. I also added 3 new hubs to HubPages.


At the end of this month, I started the Keyword Academy, which is where I will be placing my efforts in September (if you've never heard of TKA, read my post about it- the first month is FREE). My plan is to get through all the core videos, and make a good sized list of keywords. I also would like to buy my domains and start assembling a few websites by the end of this month.

Depending on how much time I have, I'd like to get to 70-75 Suite 101 articles (I currently have 64) in order to stay on track for my goal of 100 by Thanksgiving.

How did you do in the month of August? Did you meet your goals? What are your goals for September?

June and July Earnings Update

I'm back! The past two months have been unusually busy with the birth of our beautiful daughter. Needless to say, I haven't had much time to update, write or even get online! Now that our family is adjusting to life with a new baby, I finally have time (during naps!) to update my readers on my earnings and writing goals.

Here are the stats for June:

Suite 101- $14.83
eHow- $9.42
Adsense- $1.56
Amazon- $1.92

Total= $27.73

June was definitely a lower than average month. I added no new articles during this month.

Here are the stats for July, which was a much better month:

Suite 101- $24.27
eHow- $20.38
Adsense- $1.56
Amazon- $1.12

Total= $47.33

I'm not sure what caused such a huge difference in earnings on Suite 101 and eHow, but I'm hoping the good trend continues.

During the month of June, I also wrote 28 articles for Demand Studios. Considering my daughter was born on the 26th, and I stopped writing a week before she was born, I think I did pretty good.

Because of the lack of articles currently available in my preferred subject (gardening) on DS, I'm not sure I will be able to write as much for them in August. I'd like to try writing in different subject areas and see if there is anything I can replace it with. So, my goal for DS in August is to just write a few articles.

Due to the earnings increase, I would like to write a few more articles on Suite 101 for August. I'd like to get to 100 by Thanksgiving (I currently have 60). Since these articles are so easy to write, I don't think I'll have any problems reaching that goal.

How did you do in the months of June and July? Did you meet your goals? What are your plans for August?

May Earnings Update

May was a much better month than April. I've started writing regularly again for Demand Studios, and my residual income at Suite 101 and eHow improved if only just slightly. I've finally started earning with amazon, so from now on I'll include monthly earnings from their associate program.

Suite 101- $16.54
eHow- $14.07
adsense- $4.82
amazon- $1.90

total= $37.33

My actual income from writing was much higher than this due to writing for DS again. After a hiatus of DS, it is rather nice to be back. I feel like I have a much better grasp on how to write successfully for them than I did before. I wrote the entire month of May without a single rewrite! My favorite new feature at DS is the 'track changes' application. I love seeing what a CE did to my article since it helps me realize the types of editing my articles undergo.

With the end of eHow, I have decided to pursue other residual income opprotunities besides Suite 101. I wrote 3 articles for Hubpages this month. I'm just testing the waters at this point, so I'll update with more information once I've gotten a better article library established.

My goals for June are to write the 10 Suite 101 articles per terms of my contract as well as continue writing for DS. I also plan to add a few more hubs.

As a side note, I've started a new blog if any of my readers wish to check it out. It's called Mothering Blindfolded and is just a fun blog about my family and my journey into motherhood. I'm officially full-term as of tomorrow, so if you're wondering where I am and what I am doing when I'm not posting on Pen Meets Wallet, check it out!

How were your earnings in May? Did you meet your goals? How will/does your writing schedule change once the summer months roll around?

April Earnings Update

I'm a little late on this earnings update! But I wanted to share what I earned nonetheless. I've been very busy settling into our new apartment, and thus have not had much time for writing. Learning to navigate a whole new city alongside social obligations, camping trips and my husband starting his new job has kept me occupied.

Suite 101- $15.41- Did not add any new articles.

eHow- $11.95 - My eHow earnings are holding steady despite the cut of the WCP.

Adsense- $0.95 - Not much, but I put blogging on hold this month.

Total= $28.31

It was my lowest month since Janurary! But note I didn't write a single article during the month of April. I suspect more people were outside enjoying the nice weather rather than surfing the internet and clicking on ads!

May Goals:

-Finish organization with home office

- write 5 Suite 101 articles

- write 5 articles for DS

-resume blogging!

My goals are quite modest this month since I'll be busy getting things ready for the baby, and I'm a lot more tired these days. I hope to get into a nice writing groove nonetheless. The April break was nice, but it's time to get back to work!

How did you do in April? Did you meet your goals?

eHow Pulls the Plug on the WCP

In my previous post, I included the dramatic announcement by eHow to end the WCP (Writer Compensation Program). After perusing many different writer forums, I've gotten a nice overview of what these changes mean.

Future eHow Articles

All future eHow articles will now be written by Demand Studio writers. This means that each article must go through an editorial process before being published on the site. Writers can opt for revenue share on these articles like they had at eHow, or they can take advantage of the flat fee payment of $15.

A good lot of eHow writers were automatically selected to become writers at DS. Others received emails informing them they would need to apply separately with DS to continue to write for eHow. Those that were automatically selected will only be able to write How-to's on DS. If a writer already had a DS account and was selected to continue writing there at the close of the WCP, they will have two separate DS accounts.

Current eHow Articles

Articles published under the WCP will remain on eHow, and they will continue to earn as they have in the past. Writers will still be able to edit their articles as well as access their eHow profiles as usual. They will not, however, be able to write new articles. It is worth noting that the current eHow articles are not immune to a future sweep.

What This Means for DS Writers

Those who write for DS have expressed mixed feelings about the eHow merger. Some are afraid it will slow down the editorial process while others are concerned about the availability of titles now that there is an influx of new writers. However, since the eHow writers automatically accepted at DS will only have access to how-to's, this is not likely to be much of a problem since there are many different formats such as About, List, Strategy and so forth.

What This Means for eHow Writers

For those eHow writers automatically selected to write how-to's at DS, there are many changes. Unless already writing for DS, eHow writers are likely to be shocked at the editorial process when they are used to instant publishing. They might not be able to meet the high standards that is expected of writers at DS. I've found that writing a DS how-to and an eHow how-to are completely different in terms of time spent researching, editing and adhering to style. Good references and resources are required, which can take a bit more time as well.

What This Means for eHow and Demand Studios

The decision to merge eHow and Demand Studios will have lasting implications on eHow as well as Demand Studios. For eHow, it's a good thing since the site will have less spammy and poorly written articles. For Demand Studios, only time will tell if this is a good step for them.

The Importance of Diversification

If there is anything a writer should learn from this event, it's the importance of diversification. Whether or not you wrote for eHow or Demand Studios, never put all your eggs in one basket be it a client or a website. Diversify your income streams with the anticipation that something like this may happen to one or more income source.

Since just about 50% of my residual income is from eHow, I will now have to branch out and try other forms of passive income. I was already contemplating doing this before the end of the WCP which just confirms it was a good hunch.

What are your thoughts on the end of the WCP? Will you continue to write for eHow through DS? What steps are you taking to diversify your writing income?

The end of eHow?

Just minutes ago, I received a pop-up message from eHow alerting me that eHow has now closed their Writer Compensation Program.

Demand Studios is now the exclusive platform for writing new articles for eHow.com

EFFECTIVE AS OF APRIL 5, 2010, THE WCP WILL BE CLOSED TO NEW PARTICIPANTS. Articles which were previously submitted under the WCP prior to April 5, 2010 will continue to be governed by the supplemental WCP terms available here.

Effective as of April 5, 2010, all users who desire to submit articles for syndication through eHow.com must join Demand Media's content creation platform, Demand Studios, including users who formerly participated in the WCP. As part of the application process, you will need to review and agree to a Contributors Agreement which will set forth the terms (including payment options) that apply to any contributions that you submit to Demand Studios.

You agree that from time to time we may, at our sole discretion, modify, suspend, add to, remove or discontinue all or any portion of the WCP or the Supplemental Terms, and that we will not be liable to you or to any third party for doing so.

Big changes are underway over at eHow. Stay tuned for more updates!

March Earnings Update

March certainly was an eventful month. Not only did we move, but we moved twice. After discovering a major problem in the original apartment we moved into, we became nomads for 4 days, living at the Holiday Inn. Thankfully, everything was resolved and we managed to find another apartment fairly quickly. However, it was very stressful, and I'm just glad it's all over.

As a result of all this, I didn't write much. Here are the stats!

Suite 101 - I wrote a total of 6 new articles at Suite in March. I am finally getting my 10% bonus! It feels so good to reach this milestone, and it just gives me more momentum to continue writing. I earned $21.18 for the month of March, which was less than I was expecting, but not all of my articles were SEO friendly in the rush to get to 50.

eHow- I wrote 4 new articles at eHow in March. I also resubmitted all of my articles to google, since someone had mentioned they might have had trouble during the UK fiasco. I'm so glad I did, since I saw a tremendous increase in earnings! I earned $14.74 for the month of March, which is my highest since November. Another thing I did was delete articles that were duds.

Google Adsense- After killing my oldest blog, I was unsure how my adsense earnings would turn out this month. I was pleasantly surprised when my earnings totaled $5.04! I didn't work on promoting my blogs at all in March, so I am pleased with it. Still pretty far away from payout though!

Total March earnings: $40.96

April Goals:

-Write 8 articles for Demand Studios (for extra baby savings)

-Write 5 eHow articles

-Write 10 Suite 101 articles

-set up home office!

I'll be working on decorating our new apartment, but I should be able to meet these goals pretty easily. I'm also in my third trimester of pregnancy, so planning for the baby will keep my busy too!

How did you do in March? Did you see an increase or decrease in earnings? Did you meet your goals?

February Earnings Update

March is officially here! Spring is literally just around the corner, and that makes me very happy! Although February was a bleak month in terms of weather, I managed to stay quite productive and write a lot.

I launched my first niche blog mid-month, and so far, I have earned almost $2 in adsense from this site. With only a small amount of content, it is already earning, which I am excited about.

February was my best month at Suite 101. I tried really hard to make it to the 50 article mark, but only managed to get up to 45. All said and done, I wrote 21 new articles- smashing my goal of 8! I also made $18.58 for the month, my highest earnings yet. Most of these articles were written mid-month as well, so March should bring about an even bigger increase in earnings.

My goal for eHow was 4 new articles, but I only wrote 3. Part of this was due to the publishing issues the site was having in the beginning of the month, and I wanted to see if it would clear up. I made $9.15 on eHow, meaning I didn't make payout. I contribute most of this to the fact that there were only 28 days in February.

I orginally wanted to write 4 examiner articles this month as well, but I have decided to let it go. There just isn't any real residual income coming in from that site. You only make money if you write, and it seems like Examiner is turning more into an upfront pay site. So for those reasons, I am quitting, choosing to focus my efforts elsewhere.

I didn't manage to query a magazine or write any fiction, but this is because we have decided to move. I've been busy packing and preparing for our relocation to a new city. This means my writing time will be limited in March, so I have adjusted my goals accordingly.

Here's the grand total for the month:

• Google Adsense- $5.06 (highest month to date!)


• Suite 101- $18.58


• eHow- $9.15


• TOTAL= $32.79

My March goals are...

• Write 10 new articles on Suite 101


• Write 4-5 new eHow articles


• Write 3 articles for niche blog (I only wrote 7 last month)

I think I can easily exceed or meet these goals if I stay on task and focused. Like I said, we will be packing and moving to a new city this month, so I'll definately have my hands full for a while!

How was your earnings in Febraury? Did you see an increase or decrease due to the Olympics and Valentine's day? What are your writing goals for March?

The Future of eHow?

With less than one week left to the month, I am beginning to have serious thoughts about the direction of eHow's future. After several months of not submitting any new content, I published 3 articles near the beginning of the month but have yet to see any revenue from them. Aside from that, I am also earning half of what I was in January, if that is even possible (And January's earnings were half of October's...).

This makes me very hesitant to waste my time on a site that is likely heading for failure. I don't want eHow to fail, but I am extremely worried this might be the case. It will be interesting to see what my final earnings are for Febuary with eHow.

On another note, my Suite earnings have sky-rocketed. I've already met my all-time earning high! For the remainder of the month, my writing efforts will be concentrated there. With my goal to reach 50 articles on Suite 101 only 6 days away, I am just 17 articles away from reaching that goal. We'll see how I do!

eHow UK Compensation

With the recent eHow UK fiasco, eHow informed writers last month that they would be receiving "generous compensation" for the earnings lost with articles displayed on the UK site. Yesterday, this bonus came in, with most of the writers on eHow receiving a 10% bonus on top of their monthly earnings in January. I myself received an additional $1.30.

While I am grateful for the extra money (no matter how small), I cannot help but feel jipped by eHow. The UK problem had been going on for the past 6 months, and writers were only compensated a tiny, tiny portion. I saw my earnings drop by 50% when the UK site launched, and the bonus eHow gave me does no justice to the amount I should have recieved. I know many other writers are upset about this as well, since they took a bigger hit with loss earnings.

What does this mean for the future of eHow? I am not sure, but I am hopeful despite all that is going on. I am hopeful that issues will be resolved within the next few months and writers start earning more again. We'll have to see how the next few months play out. If the kinks are still going on come June, I will likely retire my writing there.

How much did you receive in compensation for the UK eHow problem? Do you plan to continue to write for eHow? What is your outlook on the future of the site?

Review of Writer Gig's E-Book on Writing for eHow.com

When I first started writing for eHow.com, I can across Writer Gig (Maria)’s eBook, How to Earn Passive Income at eHow.com: Residual Income for Web Content Writers. I was intrigued and wanted to buy the book. Maria currently makes over $1500 a month from her eHow articles alone. She clearly has succeeded as a writer there and knows what she is talking about. I put off buying the book, however, thinking I could figure things out on my own. Recently, I caved in and bought the book with my monthly residual income. My only regret is not buying it sooner.

Maria’s eBook includes step by step instructions on how to effectively optimize eHow articles for maximum earnings. She includes screen shots of her monthly income as proof as well as resources and links to online tools that will help you in the research and writing process. She also has keyword and SEO tips which both beginners and veteran web writers can benefit from.

After reading her eBook, I am excited to begin implementing her techniques to help maximize and greatly enhance my eHow earnings. I highly recommend it to anyone who writes for eHow, as it is a timeless resource that will help you succeed in your writing efforts there. The price is totally worth is, especially since your monthly earnings will increase quite a bit with her technique.

Maria also has a money back guarantee. She states, “Your satisfaction is guaranteed. With dozens and dozens of customers, I have never had a single request for a refund! If you try my method for 30 days and don't see results, I'll refund your purchase! You have nothing to lose.”

***UPDATE: Due to the recent eHow rule banning all affiliate links in articles, Writer Gig will be updating her eBook with new information. When the new version is available, those who have purchased her eBook will receive the updated eBook at no cost to them.***

January Earnings Report

It's that time of month again- evalution and reporting of earnings. My actual earnings will be down the following months, mainly because I've stopping writing for Demand Studios. If we need the extra money, then I'll write for them, but otherwise I'm choosing to stick to residual income opprotunities such as blogging and writing for sites like Suite 1o1 and eHow.


And without further ado, here are the stats!


Suite 101- $14.89 (this is almost double what I made last month, with 7 new articles added)
eHow- $11.18 (up a tiny bit from December, but still about half of what I was making)
Examiner- $0.92 (I did not focus on examiner this month)
Adsense- $0.55 (I have not launched my new SEO focused blogs yet)
Total= $27.54

This past month was largely spent outlining my specific writing goals I want to achieve in the upcoming year. February will be the first month to implement my weekly goals, so that should bring an increase in residual earnings. I hope to stick to the plan and remain focused throughout this new month. I just need to keep writing, writing, writing!

February, I'll be focusing on...

• Launching 1 new niche blog
• writing 2 new articles per week for Suite 101
• writing 4 new eHow articles
• writing 4 new Examiner articles
• Query 1 print magazine
• write 1 short story

In order to hold myself better accountable, I'll be rewarding myself with a manicure if I get all this done! I have MUCH more time available to write this month, so this is very doable.

How did January go for you? Did you see a jump in residual earnings from December? What are your goals for February?

December Earnings Update

I can proudly say that I met my goal this month, despite it being the holidays. However, I met my goal in an unusual way since the bulk of my earnings did not come from Demand Studios for once.

eHow- $10.40 (33% DROP)
Examiner- $125.83
Suite 101-$7.36
Demand Studios- $75
Google Adsense- $0.93
Private Clients- $0.00
Total= $219.52

My Suite 101 earnings are slightly up, but I did add several new articles this month. I did not blog as much this month as in the past, so my adsense earnings were down, but this was expected. I only wrote 5 articles for DS, but made up for it with my Examiner earnings, which were spectacular. I can only hope that this continues! I turned down any private client work since I was out of town for an extended period of time in December. My eHow earnings were disappointign again-only around $10-which means a 33% drop from November and a 50% drop from October.

My goal for January is to make the same amount ($200), but more than that would be ideal since we are working on saving money for when the baby comes. I may or may not have another print magazine assignment to work on as well, since I got the call that one of my queries was seriously being considered for publication (yay!). I queried this particular magazine way back in May, so it has really given me more motivation to get back to the drawing board. Since magazine writing can be excruciatingly slow, it's important to constantly churn out queries.

Some of my New Years Resolutions include:

• Clearing clutter from my home to make room for the baby
• send out 1 query a month to print publications
• Up my residual income to $100 a month (it's currently near $25)

How did you fare during the month of December? Share your goals and acheivements in the comments below.

(If you're new to online web writing, I encourage you to check out my sidebar where I post several writing opprotunities you can apply for.)

A Dismal Earnings Report... November Earnings

My earnings this month were virtually non-existant due to the fact that I hardly wrote anything. Severe morning sickness is to blame, as is sleeping over 12 hours every day! Here are the stats:

eHow- $15.50 (25% DROP!)
Examiner- $1.02
Demand Studios- $15.00
Google Adsense- $2.23
Suite 101- $6.54
Private Clients- $0.00
Total= $40.29

I was disappointed that my eHow earnings dropped so drastically. I don't expect to earn much more than that in the coming months as I've pretty much stopped writing for them.

My Suite 101 earnings were also disappointing- I didn't even make payout! Although I added no new articles in November, I still thought I would have reached the payout. My guess is that November was just a slow month on the internet overall.

I am currently less than fifty cents away from my payout with Examiner.com. I only wrote one or two short articles in order to stay current with them last month, but I fully intend to leave that site behind for good after December.

Since my sickness prevented me from writing much, I only wrote one article at Demand Studios- such a measly number compared to all my other months spent working for them!

My goals for December are not ambitious, but since I am getting back into the groove of writing, they will be challenging enough. I plan on writing at least 20 articles at DS and several at Suite 101 (I am required by contract to write 10 articles for Suite every 3 months). The good news is that I am feeling much better, and my morning sickness is finally subsiding! So I should have no problem meeting my goals for this month :-)

How did you do in November?

October Earnings

Life never seems to stop throwing me curve balls, and this month a major event happened that prevented me from accomplishing my writing goals. On October 16th, I found out I'm pregnant! Joyous though I am, it has seriously hindered my writing progress as I battle intense morning sickness and fatigue. Here are the stats!

eHow- $20.17 (no new added articles)
Examiner- $1.55 (pathetic, I know)
Demand Studios- $142.50
Google Adsense- $0.44
Suite 101- $11.76
Private Clients- $0.00
Total= $176.42

Though I am tempted to think of October as a loss, I know that I did the best I could considering the circumstances. With the upcoming month looming darkly of more morning sickness, I know I have to find a way to get around it. November is also NaNoWriMo, which I am eagerly attempting, but my goal will probably be less than the required 50,000 words since I am not feeling well. But who knows? Perhaps the nausea and vomiting will end early! We can certainly keep our fingers crossed!

On the brighter side, my Suite 101 earnings are really taking off. With just 13 articles, I have already made over $25. Each month my earnings increase nicely. My eHow earnings are also increasing, even with little productivity. I've noticed that the articles I have written in the past 2-3 months are earning the most. I think my researching has a bit to do with this!

I wrote 3-4 articles for examiner this month with little response. I am so disappointed in this site it is not even funny. I am currently only $1.65 away from payout, so hopefully I can quit after that. With such a low low pay rate, I think it's ridiculous that the payout is $25.

Next month my student loans enter repayment, so morning sickness or not, I need to try and make around $150 at least at DS. I think that is a reasonable goal!

How did you fare the month of October?

eHow's Ongoing Sweeps

Well, it seems eHow has done it again. I have only been writing for eHow for a total of four months, but this is the second large sweep I have seen. Seems like my theory on writing for eHow is probably correct.

I had two of my higher earning articles wiped out without a stated reason. At least in the last sweep they provided a reason.

eHow is a great place to get started with online writing, but I don't think it merits long-term writing success because of these sweeps, lack of editors and lack of communication. That being said, I am glad I started with eHow, because it got my foot in the door, but at the same time, I won't be rushing over to publish new articles any time soon.

For those of you who lost more articles in this sweep- I feel for you. But keep your chin up. Being a writer means dealing with rejection. I've learned, over the past few months, that with every rejection comes a lesson. If we choose to apply that, then we will become better writers.

And if you did not already back up your eHow and other online articles, this is a reminder to do so. You can publish the deleted ones on a different site, such as Suite 101. I use Google Docs for all my online writing. Using a flash drive or external hard-drive is another option. Just don't let your articles sit in a folder on the computer or on the site you published them on, because things like the sweep can happen.

To retrieve lost eHow articles, do a Google search for the title in quotes. Then click on 'catched'. That should get you to the article for at least a couple days after deletion. Hope this helps!

How do you deal with rejection?

September Earnings Update

It's the first of October! Last month really did fly by, and I feel as if this month will too. September was not the best writing month for me, I am sad to say. I had many projects I was working on around the house that distracted me and was also feeling low in morale due to an excess amount of DS rewrites. Any-who, here are the stats for month:

eHow: $17.41 (37 articles)
Suite 101: $8.96 (11 articles) (will be paid from Aug with Sept for a total of $13.29)
Examiner: $2.41 (24 articles)
Demand Studios: $165 (11 articles)
Adsense: $2.46
Private Clients: $9.31

Total: $205.55

Definitely my worst month yet. I only added two articles to eHow, but surprisingly my earnings nearly doubled from last month. My Suite earnings also doubled, due to my increase in articles there (however, many of these articles came from abandoned rewrite requests on DS). I really lost motivation to write for Examiner (they are barely giving me pennies) and thus, missed payout by a few bucks. I am hoping to reach payout this next month within the first two weeks so I can get my 25 bucks and leave the company for good.

I wrote significantly less for DS, primarily due to the lack of good titles in my preferred style. As I wrestled with new formats, I got quite a bit of rewrites and even an uncalled for rejection (which was later taken off my record after I appealed it). This made me unmotivated to put out very many articles. However, near the end of the month, I wrote more after mastering two new style categories, including Fact Sheets, which pay $7.50 but take 20-30 minutes to write. This was definitely a challenging month for me at DS!

So what are my goals for October?

eHow- write 2-3 new articles or when idea strikes
Suite 101- write 5 new articles
Examiner- write enough for payout
DS- write 20 articles total or make $300
Private Clients- send in 5 queries to print magazines (1-2 per week)

Since I will be kept busy finishing research and starting my novel as well as planning for a Halloween party, I think this will be plenty challenge for me!

How did you do for September? Did you meet your goals? What are your goals for October?